Posts Tagged With: mercy

Yesterday we were introduced to the scroll of destiny. Today the lamb begins to open the seals one by one. As each seal is broken some monumental event takes place. The first four seals launch a horseman — yes, the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Off they go on white, red, black and pale horses bringing death in various ways as they go. Whether battle, disease, famine, or even wild animals, when the time comes for the seals to be broken Death personified will ride into the lives of those who have oppressed God’s people. If we look at the history of the Roman Empire in the three hundred years after John’s vision, that is exactly what we see happen. And so often since then, we have seen Death have his way with the godless regimes of human history.

But why is this happening? We might wonder. Some may bristle at passages like this one. There is no escaping that in this passage God is orchestrating the death of at least the fourth of the world’s population (6:8), if we are to take that number literally. Some might object that this sort of action is beneath God.

But this is not just violence for violence sake. God doesn’t go on a tear for no reason at all. Here we get a stark look at the justice of God. We must remember that justice is on the other side of the coin from the forgiveness and mercy we like to focus on. When people are seeking forgiveness, the good news is that it is available. But when there are powers afoot that desire only their own will and have no regard for God or moral living, good news for those oppressed can only be the punishment of the tyrants of this world.

The fifth seal reveals the cause of the first four. The “witnesses” who have died because of their faith are now revealed shouting at the top of their voices:

How much longer are you going to put off giving judgment, and avenging our blood on the earth-dwellers? (6:10)

As the sixth seal is broken and the world as we know begins to melt (highly poetic language borrowing all the standard apocalyptic symbols for cataclysmic change), the oppressors of the righteous know they will be made to pay for their transgressions and hope that hiding will save them:

Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne, and from the anger of the lamb! The great day of their anger has come, and who can stand upright? (6:16-17)

Some who read Revelation are turned off because of its violence. This is a picture of God they deem unbecoming. However, as anyone who has ever been persecuted for their faith can tell us, there are some situations in life where justice is the only way to rectify a situation. To not bring evil to an end would, in fact, be unjust and erode the very fabric of life. Revelation is dark in many places, but always in vindication of the faithful who have suffered even unto death.

The book of Jude, also known as Judah (N. T. Wright’s preference) or even Judas, was possibly written by the prophet Judas (not Iscariot), though more likely written by Judas the brother of Jesus (c.f., Matthew 13:55). This view is favored because the author does not consider himself an apostle and he calls himself a brother of James, which most believe is the pillar in the Jerusalem church, the author of James, and the brother of Jesus. Seemingly not wanting to ride the coat-tails of his brother, Jude does not refer to himself as the Lord’s brother.

This is a hard book to date, and much of the decision rides on whether one thinks Jude borrowed from 2 Peter or vice versa or neither. If Jude borrowed from 2 Peter, then Jude can be dated as late as the 80s. As authors tend to borrow and elaborate, most scholars think Peter borrowed from the shorter Jude, meaning Jude cannot be dated later than AD 65.

Hebrews, James, John, Peter, and Jude are sometimes called the General Epistles because, unlike Paul’s letters, they appear to be written to broad groups of people, addressing very general circumstances. Jude is likely the most general of the General Letters. It is hard to say who is being addressed, what ethnicities are present, where they are located, and who exactly are the false teachers being discussed. Regardless, the message is clear and widely applicable.

Verse 4 may be the best summary of the message of Jude:

They are godless men, who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

People have arisen in the church(es) Jude is addressing that have turned the grace of God into an excuse to sin. If wrongdoing is going to be forgiven, why not live how you wish. This could have been a libertine version of Gnosticism that Jude was attacking, though as we see even still today people who love their sin more than their Savior have always used grace as a license to stay in their old ways.

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“Shrewd as serpents, innocent as doves”

The ancient Egyptians of the Exodus. Angels who rebelled and were cast out of Heaven. The perverted people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Dumb animals who only follow their instincts. Cain, who killed his brother. Balaam, who would prophesy for the highest bidder. Korah and his fellow rebels who dared to question the leadership of Moses. Jude compares the false teachers in the midst of his recipients to this rogue’s gallery. Not great company.

As I read Jude again, a book I do not spend a lot of time in, I was struck by this interesting passage:

With some people who are wavering, you must show mercy. Some you must rescue, snatching them from the fire. To others you must show mercy, but with fear, hating even the clothes that have been defiled by the flesh. (22-23)

Jude is clear. Show mercy to everyone, even those on the fence thinking about walking away from the way of life you think is right and best, even to those trying to lead you astray. But it would be unwise to think that all people are equal threats to your faith. There are some who need you to be deeply invested in their lives, fighting for their very souls. But there are others — like these false teachers — who, while we do not give them the ill treatment they deserve, must be treated with a healthy fear of what they can do to a person’s faith. There is a distance that must be in place, lest one be pulled into their wickedness as well. All must be shown mercy, but not all should be related to in the same way.

I hope those who know me best would say I am all about grace. I love to talk about it, teach it, and read about it. I am painfully aware of my need for grace. Any chance I get to speak publicly I am increasingly inclined to bring the message of grace. More and more in my life, by the help of the Spirit, I am learning to practice it in my relationships, and of course that is most important.

The challenge comes when grace meets sin, in particular sin in the life of people who are representing Christ in this world. Grace must cover over sin, or it is not grace. Grace teaches us that we are all in a place of need because we all fall short. Grace knows that our brothers and sisters will fail.

But is there a limit to grace? When is the right response discipline and judgment, not mercy and unconditional acceptance?

It seems from this chapter that the Corinthians were a deeply graceful people. In fact they were so gracious they took pride in what they had forgiven and accepted, even in their midst. This is likely what they were “boasting” about in verses 2 and 6. Apparently, a man’s father died and some time after (maybe soon after?) this man took his father’s second wife (surely not his own mother or the text would have said as much) as his own wife. More to the point, this was deemed scandalous, immoral, and undignified even in their permissive Corinthian society (5:1). The Corinthian Christians surely saw this as wrong as well, but they had chosen to respond with acceptance instead of judgment and exclusion. How noble and mature, right? In a world of judgmental Christians better known for picketing funerals and petitioning politicians and excluding “dirty” people from their social circles, it is very easy still today to want to be the ultra-accepting ones.

Except Paul didn’t feel this way. In fact, he was beside himself with the Corinthians (“Well I never!,” 5:1b). This is grace run amok. Grace is supposed to attract people to God, and this “grace” was a turn off even for the pagans. And that right there is the key point for Paul:

Everybody’s talking about the sex scandal that’s going on in your community, not least because it’s a kind of immorality that even pagans don’t practice! (5:1)

Grace is not intended to enable sin, rather to move us past our sin in gratitude for such a gift. We are a re-created people; “depravity and wickedness” have been taken from us (5:6-7). Why would we allow our sin to remain and fester within us? Dealing with sin with kid gloves thinking it will go away is a dangerous naiveté.

Paul proposes a different tack. There is a place for judgment within the church.

Let me tell you what I’ve already done. I may be away from you physically, but I’m present in the spirit; and I’ve already passed judgment, as though I was there with you, on the person who has behaved this way. . . . You must hand over such a person to the satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus. (5:3, 5)

Note, Paul is talking about how Christians deal with other Christians, not non-Christians (5:9-13). It is fine to show one’s support for a restaurant because of their stance on gay marriage amongst predominantly non-Christian people, but do we deal with the greed and gluttony and bigotry in our own midst as vigilantly?

Judgment, exclusion, discipline, handing over to Satan, not associating with — well, that doesn’t sound very gracious now, does it? Certainly all of those response can be done with entirely wrong, depraved motives. But that is not what Paul is intending here. Notice what the purpose of this sort of discipline is: “the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved” (5:5). Put distance between you and the offender so as to get him back again but as a spiritually-stronger, morally-cleansed brother. Produce a situation where the immoral one feels a loss of love that causes repentance. The goal is salvation. The desire is to draw that person closer to God again. That is an act of grace, albeit a different sort. That grace says you deserve for us to write you off and have nothing to do with you ever again, but instead we will pray for you, keep you on our radar, and welcome you back with open arms when you decide to turn around. This is the grace of the father of the prodigal son who never went looking for the son, yet welcomed him home as a dearly loved son not just the slave he was willing to be.

Yes, even discipline can be an act of grace. Grace motivates change, so the approach Paul was taking fits. Ironically, what doesn’t fit is the “grace” of the Corinthians. Nothing would change in unqualified, principle-less acceptance of a perversion even non-Christians find offensive. In fact, the only thing that changes is the reputation of the Church and the Christ who we serve. And for the worse.

I have been reading the Bible for a long time, but I can honestly say I don’t believe I have ever really noticed this parable.

Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit, and didn’t find any. So he said to the gardener, “Look here! I’ve been coming to this fig tree for three years hoping to find some fruit, and I haven’t found any! Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”

“I tell you what, Master,” replied the gardener; “let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all around it and put on some manure. Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.” (13:6-9)

I am amazed by the amount of grace in this little parable. One man is ready to give up on the fig tree. The other one (Jesus?) wants to wait just one more year. One more chance! That is our God! Yes, it is grace mixed with expectation. This fig tree needs to produce. But, when others are ready to cut it down, Jesus isn’t. Not yet.

Do we ever write people off too soon? It seems like this parable is implying so.

What do you think?

As he did in Ephesians, at the tail end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4, Paul ends this letter with a reminder that new life in Christ also affects our everyday relationships. In the middle of that section — technically called a “household code” — Paul says this:

Whatever you do, give it your very best. (3:23)

Good relationships take our very best. Husbands and wives can’t expect to have a good relationship if there is little effort put into their marriage. Parenting is too challenging to think we can find success with only our leftovers. Tired, distracted fathers find it too easy to “provoke their children to anger” (3:21). The workplace can easily become tyranny if the boss isn’t trying to give her employees the best, to their benefit and to the mission of the organization.

But how is that possible? We don’t always want to give our best. Quite frankly, there are many situations where the people in our life don’t deserve our best. Paul knows this and his answer comes in the very next phrase:

Give it your very best, as if you were working for the master and not for human beings. (3:23b)

We give our best out of devotion to God, not because other people deserve it.

That’s grace. It isn’t just some concept we pull out when we want to talk about the conceptual matter of how God saves our soul. Grace is also the very practical, unmerited blessings we give the people in our life in the nitty gritty of day-to-day life.